WJPA Sports

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Ian Happ homered for the second consecutive game and the Chicago Cubs handed Paul Skenes his third straight loss with a 7-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. The win came one night after the Cubs ended a 10-game losing streak. Happ hit a tiebreaking three-run homer in the seventh inning of that game. Happ had three hits on Thursday, including a two-run homer in the eighth that pushed the Cubs’ lead to 5-2. Seiya Suzuki had two hits and two RBIs for Chicago. Skenes lost his third straight start despite striking out 10 in 5 1/3 innings. Only one of the three runs against the 2025 NL Cy Young Award winner was earned.

Major League Baseball owners made their long-expected salary cap proposal to the players’ association on Thursday, a system the union has vowed never to accept, setting the sides on course for a confrontation that threatens the 2027 season and perhaps beyond. Baseball owners haven’t proposed a firm cap since 1994. Their effort prompted a 7 1/2-month strike that forced the cancellation of the World Series for the first time in 90 years. The proposal would cap spending in 2027 at $245.3 million, with a salary floor of $171.2 million.

Victor Wembanyama looked different in Game 6. There was the long robe that the San Antonio star wore to his home arena on Thursday night, done to celebrate an Islamic holiday but also reminding some of his look last summer at a Shaolin temple. And on the court, he was back to his dominant self as well. Facing an elimination game for the first time in his career, Wembanyama had 28 points, 10 rebounds, three blocks and two assists, on 10-for-21 shooting in 28 minutes, leading the Spurs past the Oklahoma City Thunder 118-91 and sending the West finals to Game 7.

Four-time Stanley Cup champion Claude Lemieux has died after taking his own life, according to authorities. He was 60. The Palm Beach County Sherriff’s Office said deputies responded just after 3 a.m. to a suicide call at a furniture store showroom in Lake Park, Florida. The sheriff’s office said the victim was believed to be Lemieux. The NHL Alumni Association announced Lemieux’s death in a post on social media. Lemieux was the Montreal Canadiens’ torch bearer prior to Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final on Monday night. He won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP with New Jersey in 1995.